Open war in the CEOE: Garamendi and Cuerva meet tomorrow to address the replacement of the president of Cepyme

Open war in the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE). After the news broke this Monday that the president of the national employers’ association, Antonio Garamendi is promoting an alternative candidacy to the president of Cepyme, Gerardo Cuerva, In the election process that the SME employers face this year, both leaders will hold a meeting tomorrow to address the crisis.

As Cuerva himself confirmed in statements to the media this morning, it will be this Tuesday when he sits down with Garamendi to discuss the matter. EL MUNDO has learned that the meeting between the two was scheduled for this Monday, however, the publication in ABC The information that indicates that the president of CEOE is looking for a candidate to compete with Cuerva in the re-election has blown up the plan to hold a discreet meeting and it was Garamendi who moved the meeting to tomorrow.

Asked directly about Garamendi’s maneuver to find an alternative candidate, the president of Cepyme assured that he “got up with the news” this Monday and that the question should be addressed to the leader of the CEOE. However, he has given full credibility to the published and “verified” information and has announced that he will “take care of it.” Likewise, he has avoided specifying whether or not he had prior knowledge that, in fact, Garamendi is promoting this candidacy within the employers’ association, and has advanced that, after speaking with “dozens” and “hundreds” of members of the organization, It will be tomorrow when I address the issue with the president of CEOE.

Although it had not been revealed publicly, the truth is that the tension between the two has been growing up since last July, when Cepyme promoted the distribution of a harsh manifesto against the Government’s interventionism that positioned Cuerva as one of the most critical voices within the CEOE – where he holds the position of vice president – against the economic policies of the Executive.

According to employers’ sources revealed to this medium, Garamendi has been promoting this candidacy internally for months to unseat Cuerva as head of Cepyme. The highest representative of the interests of the companies considers that Cuerva has lost his loyalty. However, the team of the still president of the SME employers’ association defends that Cuerva has always been loyal to Garamendi. “Critical yes, disloyal no,” they say.

Cuerva himself defended himself in his statement to the media at the CEOE headquarters in Madrid this morning: “I have always been loyal, even in very delicate moments for the organization and for Garamendi on a personal level”he stated. In his own words, the leader of Cepyme has “a very clear conscience.” “The unity of business action has never been broken,” he assured. Although he has acknowledged that he has “disagreed on some occasions”, he has denied that these differences of opinions “call into question the unity of business action.”

Cuerva has avoided clearing up the question of whether or not he will stand for re-election in the process that Cepyme has to call in 2025. “There are no elections called,” he recalled, to later emphasize that he is “a man of organization” and that Before adopting any type of decision in this regard, it must bring together its governing bodies.

However, Cuerva has stated that Garamendi is “a born and incessant worker, who is making a great defense of business interests” and that, in any case, the CEOE is governed by a “democratic system.” “If there are elections and someone understands that what is being done in Cepyme is not correct, has all the freedom in this democratic process to propose a candidacy to redirect what Cepyme is doing,” he said.

“Cepyme has demonstrated four years of loyalty to CEOE, as it could not be otherwise, and of coordination and defense of business interests,” concluded Cuerva, who has focused on that commitment to defend the interests of the business world. with special emphasis on small and medium-sized businesses.

Given this panorama, the president of the SME employers’ association and vice president of the CEOE has warned that This is not the time to “divert attention and needs from the business world” and has guaranteed that, from his position, he will continue to make “a relentless defense of companies” in the face of the “difficult situation” they are going through.